The present invention relates to a cable, or the like, for locking a plurality of portable articles to a stationary object. The invention has particular utility in the environment of a business office for securing articles of business equipment against undesired removal, although the invention is not limited to use in such environment.
Office equipment, such as typewriters, word processing equipment, computers, calculating machines, etc. are small enough in size and weight to be portable and are too expensive for their owner to risk undesired removal, or loss or theft. It has become customary to secure such portable equipment to a fixed surface such as a shelf, desktop, etc., which prevents unauthorized, undesired removal of such equipment. Sometimes, the equipment is directly affixed to the surface, e.g. by being bolted to it. This has the disadvantage that the equipment cannot be moved about on the surface for convenience in storage and use. To permit an article to be moved around at least to a limited extent, it is known to attach the article to the fixed object by means of an elongate cable, long enough to permit the piece of equipment to be moved around. The cable can be a fairly strong metal cable or chain which is difficult to cut. The cable is most vulnerable to separation from the article of equipment at its connection to the article and or at its connection to the fixed surface.
The inventor hereof had devised a system to attach articles of portable equipment to a fixed support by a strong, perhaps armored, cable, and to hide the points of attachment to the equipment, on the one hand, and to the support, on the other hand, so that the cable could not be detached at the points of attachment.
Often, an article is not used singly, but several articles of equipment are used adjacent each or are connected. For example, in a word processing system or a small computer, there are a keyboard and a CRT unit which are separate but are used near each other. There may be other articles associated together. While a single, individual cable may be provided for each article, it is desirable to minimize the number of cables and of attachments that must be made to the fixed support for holding a plurality of articles of equipment in a small area.